Symbol-matching game for cards with paired icons

ABSTRACT

A tabletop game played with a special deck of cards. Each card ( 17 ) features two symbols, chosen from a set of dozens. Players are dealt an equal number of cards from the shuffled deck, and one or more discard piles are established. Players may discard their cards, one at a time, if one of the symbols on the card they are discarding is the same as one of the symbols on the card being discarded onto. Participants may discard their cards at any time, without adhering to a turn order. If all players are unable to play, each receives another card and the game continues. The first player to run out of cards is the winner.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a card game played by two or more participants. It consists of a special deck of cards, each bearing two symbols, and a method of playing a game with no turns.

DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART

The vast majority of card games are played with the traditional “round-robin” structure, in which each player in turn makes a move.

Of the card games that do employ simultaneous gameplay, most are similar to a classic game played with traditional playing cards known as Speed, or a similar game called Spit. Several commercial card games have been released with gameplay similar to these games, including Nertz, Blink, and Perpetual Commotion. However, while these other games each use a specially-redesigned deck of cards, they are all fundamentally similar in their use of numbers, colors, and/or suits to structure and restrict the playing of cards.

Less similar to these is a card game called Spot It, which provides simultaneous gameplay and replaces numbered suits with fanciful icons. However, the cards in Spot It each feature a cluster of eight symbols, and the structure of the deck ensures that each card has exactly one matching symbol with every other card in the deck. The gameplay involves being the first to locate a match that must be there.

Other card games that provide simultaneous gameplay are more significantly different and thus not relevant.

Many card games with traditional turn order use the goal of being the first to reduce the number of cards they hold to zero. However, most of these “shedding” games similarly depend on the matching of numbers along with suits, such as the classic Crazy Eights and its commercial equivalent, Uno.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention uses very simple cards, each displaying two symbols, drawn from a set of dozens. Each card in the deck features a different pairing of these symbols. The game is played by dealing each player an equal number of cards from the shuffled deck, and preparing one or more discard piles, with the number of discard piles determined by the number of players. The game proceeds by allowing players to discard the cards they were dealt, one at a time, onto a discard pile if one of the symbols on the card they are discarding matches one of the symbols on the topmost card of said discard pile. Since the game is played without turn order, the game becomes fast-paced as players race to be first to notice matches and discard their cards. However, players will also at many times find themselves with no cards that match, which causes the game to slow down as all players must then add one or more new cards to the set they are holding. These slowdowns allow players to “catch their breath” in a manner unlike other turnless card games.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the basic playing card format, featuring two symbols.

FIG. 2 shows a series of possible symbols for said cards.

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view depicting the game in progress.

FIG. 4 depicts the playing card format with redundant symbols to assist players in sorting the cards they hold.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the basic element of this invention, Playing Card 17. Players are provided with a deck of said cards, each featuring two different symbols drawn from a larger set of icons such as those shown in FIG. 2. A typical deck for this game would contain one hundred cards and approximately thirty different symbols, with each symbol appearing on between six and eight different cards.

The symbols shown in FIG. 2 are examples only. The actual symbols used could be simple or elaborate, monochrome or full-color.

The deck is shuffled and each player is dealt an equal number of cards, typically seven. The remainder of the deck is then placed in the center of the table, within reach of all players.

Before the game can begin, the discard pile (or piles) must also be established. This is done by exposing random cards and placing them in the center of the table.

The number of discard piles will vary with the number of players. Four piles is recommended for games with two players. For increasing numbers of players there will be a decreasing number of discard piles: three piles for three players, two piles for four players, and one pile for five or more players.

When all players are ready, the game begins. Since the game is played without turns anyone can play at any time after the official start of the game.

FIG. 3 shows the basic action of the game, which is the placing a card you hold onto a discard pile. As the diagram shows, one of the symbols on the card being played must match one of the symbols on the card being covered.

Players are typically given time before the game begins to sort and arrange their hand of cards. FIG. 4 depicts Playing Card 17 with a format that includes extra depictions of that card's pair of symbols, reduced in size, to assist the player in arranging the cards they hold.

The game typically begins with a flurry of activity as all players look at their cards, discover matches, and race to play them first.

If two players seek to play a card onto the same discard pile at the same time, the player whose card touches the discard pile first gets to discard their card while the other player must take theirs back, unless it can be played onto the card the other player just discarded (which does happen in half of such contests). Players must play their cards one at a time, thus allowing for the possibility of interruption by other players.

When a player is unable to play any of the cards they hold, they will make an indication of this, such as pointing at or reaching towards the draw pile. When all players are so indicating, each then draws a new card from the draw pile to add to their hands. Players are directed to wait to look at their new cards until all players have received theirs, to ensure fairness.

The first player with zero cards left in their hand is the winner.

If the draw pile becomes depleted before someone wins, the discard piles are shuffled into a new draw pile and the game continues.

SUMMARY, REFLECTIONS, AND SCOPE

The game plays well with a deck of one hundred cards and thirty symbols, but it would play equally well with more cards and more symbols, or fewer cards and fewer symbols. The ratio of symbols to cards may also be varied to some degree and the game will still be fun and satisfying.

The number of times each symbol appears in the game will depend on the number of cards in the deck and the number of different symbols. It is not necessary for each symbol to be used an equal number of times. Some symbols could be slightly more common, and others less common. Such differences may make some cards slightly more difficult to play than others, creating subtle wrinkles in the gameplay that only become apparent after repeated play. Of course it is also possible for the symbols to be distributed equally.

Although designed and intended as a game played without turns, the basic structure of the game could also be played using turn order. In such a game, players could be allowed to play multiple cards in one turn if they matched one to the next.

Each card can display its pair of symbols in multiple ways, first in a large rendition in the center of the card, and secondarily in repeated smaller renditions in one or more of the corners. With redundant symbols as shown in FIG. 4, players will be able to fan out their cards to see what they hold with only a small amount of each card being revealed. However, these redundant depictions are for the players' convenience; the game could be played without them. They could also appear in all four corners, rather than in the two opposing corners shown in FIG. 4. 

I claim:
 1. A method of playing a card game comprising the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of playing cards, each printed with a different pair of distinctive symbols, (b) shuffling a deck of said cards and dealing an equal number to each player, (c) preparing a playing area accessible to all players with the deck in the center of said playing area, (d) establishing one or more discard piles within said playing area by turning one or more cards face up, (e) allowing each player to discard onto any pile if one of the symbols on the card they are discarding matches one of the symbols on the card being discarded onto, (f) enabling all players to signal when they cannot play so that all can at once draw another card to add to their hands, (g) awarding victory to the player who first runs out of cards.
 2. The method of playing a game of claim 1 wherein players may discard matching cards at any time. 